DETROIT – Former Cal football players Aaron Rodgers and Richard Rodgers hooked up on a 61-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass on the final play of the game to lift Green Bay (8-4) to a 27-23 win at Detroit (4-8) on Thursday Night Football. The connection was immediately dubbed The Play of His Own on the television broadcast in reference to The Play that gave Cal a 1982 Big Game victory over Stanford that involved Richard Rodgers Sr. making two of the five Golden Bear laterals.
Green Bay came back from a 20-0 deficit after a Detroit field goal on its first drive of the third quarter extended its 17-0 halftime lead that included scores on each of the Lions' first three drives.
The Packers started their comeback when James Starks fumbled and Randall Cobb recovered it in the end zone with 5:44 remaining in the third quarter to cut Detroit's lead to 20-7. After a Matt Stafford fumble on the next Detroit snap, Aaron Rodgers would find Davante Adams in the end zone for an eight-yard touchdown pass to cut the Lions lead to 20-14 with 4:06 to go in the third quarter. Matt Prater pushed Detroit's lead back to nine points at 23-14 by connecting on a 42-yard field goal with 7:06 remaining in the game but Aaron Rodgers capped an 84-yard drive with a 17-yard touchdown run with 3:04 to go to pull Green Bay within two points and set up the final play after the Packers got the ball back on their own 21 with 0:23 remaining.
Aaron Rodgers finished the contest 24-of-36 for 273 yards with two touchdown passes and one interception, while Richard Rodgers had career highs of eight receptions and 146 yards receiving with the one touchdown catch. Aaron Rodgers was also the Packers' leading rusher in the contest with 27 yards on four carries including the touchdown.
The dramatic victory opened Week 13 of the 2015 NFL season that includes 26 former players currently on NFL rosters as well as head coach Ron Rivera and assistant secondary coach Richard Rodgers Sr. of the 11-0 Carolina Panthers that are the NFL's only remaining unbeaten team.
CalBears.com along with the Cal football Twitter (@CalFootball), Instagram (Cal_Football) and Snapchat (CalFootball) social media accounts are providing coverage of former Cal players in the NFL throughout the 2015 season. Fans can join in the conversation using the hashtags #CalInTheNFL, #GoBears and #CalFamily.